Commodities price crash hits Keller Group

Keller Group yesterday said it had been hit by a crash in commodity prices, with sales suffering from a slowdown in the Canadian oil sands industry and the Australian mining sector.

The ground engineering specialist said “market conditions in Canada continue to be difficult” with sales from the oil sands market at “a very low level”.

In Australia, its revenue fell 44 per cent to £81.5m, down from £144.2m in the same period last year.

Keller said total revenue fell four per cent to £755.8m, down from £788.2m in the same period last year.

It said its order book was up five per cent on same period last year, positioning the group well for the second half.

Alain Michaelis, Keller chief executive, said: “While conditions remain challenging in many of the markets in which we operate, the recovery in US construction, the group’s largest market, remains robust and broad-based.

“This, together with the benefits from improvements that the group has implemented, means that the board remains confident that the group’s results for the year will be in line with current market expectations.”